Bangalore: The ruling Congress in Karnataka asserted it would win more than 20 Lok Sabha seats from the state but there would be no change of Chief Minister if the poll outcome was not in line with their expectations as it was "not a referendum" on Siddaramaiah government.
"Responsibility of this election is both on me as the party President and the Chief Minister as the head of the Congress Legislature party, but one cannot call this election as referendum on our government in the state," KPCC President G Parameshwara told reporters.
Responding to a question, he said "there will be no change in the state leadership and Chief Minister if the results are not in line with our expectations."
Siddaramaiah has played for high stakes in the election held on Thursday, with the party reportedly setting a target of about 20 seats. A below-than-expected performance may weaken his position within Congress and pose a challenge to his leadership.
Parameshwara said the party high command had not fixed any target.
"We will win more than twenty seats, I have been saying this since beginning....The information that we have gathered from our district level units says that we will win more than twenty seats," Parameshwara said.
Accusing BJP and JDS of indulging in "adjustment politics," he said, "according to ground level reports gathered by the party there was adjustment politics played out between JDS and BJP during this election as few JDS candidates withdrew their nominations to favour BJP."
Expressing happiness that voting percentage in the state has reached 65 which is more compared to 2009 Lok Sabha polls, Parameshwara said, "Though not satisfactory as we expected more turnout, I'm happy that the polls were held successfully and peacefully in the state."
Parameshwara also demanded fool-proof voter list by the election commission so that names don't go missing from the voters list.
